Elepheet

ABSTRACT

A device for attaching to arms of the user including a pedestal for extending the length of the device so that the user can walk on the arms by keeping a back of the user substantially parallel to a horizontal plane, a wrist stabilizer to stabilize a wrist of the user and a body attached to the pedestal including a groove adjacent to the wrist stabilizer to allow a hand of the user to pass by the wrist stabilizer.

PRIORITY

The present invention claims priority under 35 USC section 119 based onthe patent application Ser. No. 60/659,272 filed on Mar. 7, 2005.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to exercise devices and more particularlyto exercise devices that involve walking on arms and legs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The world awaits, horrified, at the threat of a pandemic cause by theH5N1 avian influenza virus. However, nature has provided a unrecognizedmitigating solution to this problem. If the pandemic does occur, not allhumans may survive, but the number that survive can be increased ifcertain procedures in accordance with the teachings of the presentinvention which imitate nature are implemented. In order to implementthese procedures, the difference between climbing muscles and walkingmuscles should be recognized. In the human arm and in the forearm ofother animals, are located muscles which if used properly will determinethe number of humans that survive this pandemic. In a more generalsense, hardly a day goes by without a reminder that Americans and otherworld humans are obtaining insufficient exercise. This problem hasresulted from widespread obesity throughout the world population and theassociated health problems such as diabetes and hypertension. This lackof exercise results in part from the view that regular exercise is achore and is unappealing. It is theorized that if exercise could be madefun, then regular exercise would become a popular pastime.

The feline can switch from walking muscles to climbing muscles easily.The feline can, by extending its claws, engage the climbing muscles inthe front and hind legs, and in a similar fashion by retracting itsclaws can engage its walking muscles in the same legs. The feline canswiftly shift from using its climbing muscles to walking muscles. Inhumans, the lack of the ability to engage our walking muscles in ourarms has resulted in a vulnerability to heart trouble, stroke, theinability to develop a robust blood circulatory, ischemia, edema and amyriad of other disorders too numerous to categorize. It is thesephysical inabilities, amounting to a malady, that results in humanbeings being susceptible to asthma, allergies and other respiratorydiseases which may result in the human race being unnecessarilysusceptible to diseases such as the avian H5N1 flu virus if it shouldhit, and the human race has not taken sufficient precautions.

It has been noted that the great apes, bonobo, chimpanzees, gorillas,and orangutans walk on the soles of their hind paws and on the knucklesof the digits of their front paws. However, humans can not easilyperform this type of locomotion simply because their human knuckles arenot protected sufficiently to withstand the pressures and frictionsinvolved in this type of locomotion. Furthermore, the arms of a humanbeing are not sufficiently long to achieve this type of locomotion andto maintain their spine in a substantially horizontal plane.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention allows human beings to achieve the advantages ofbeing able to easily and naturally walk on all four arms and legs. As aresult of being able to perform these tasks, human beings are able toconvert this activity into wellness and health energy which flows intoall areas of the human being to improve blood circulation, respiration,digestion and the elimination of feces. This activity in conjunctionwith a effects of gravity facilitates the flow of blood to the humanbrain. In this way, the brain receives an additional amount ofoxygenated blood, resulting in an overall feeling of well-being. Thissolution will allow hyperactive children to eliminate their dependenceon various drugs and may aid in controlling deviant adult behavior suchas road rage or drive-by shootings. Exercise in accordance with theteachings of the present invention can induce a sense of gentlenature-ness through the muscle walking exercises discussed herein.

In addition to the gorilla walking on its knuckles, the gorilla employsknuckles stomping which is believed to be the reason why the gorillasare not susceptible to asthma and other upper respiratory illnesses.

The ELEPHEET of the present invention allows human beings includingpreschoolers to walk and stomp in a manner similar to the great apes andwill extend the reach of the arm to approximately match the length ofthe leg and to protect the knuckles with padding, support the wrist andlower arm with an air inflated support and shunt the pressure on thewrist to the elbow. Furthermore, the ELEPHEET of the present inventiondevelops the chest and the upper respiratory region of humans includingchildren and provides an addictive way to increase physical activity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be understood by reference to the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich, like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates the user and the ELEPHEET of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of the ELEPHEET of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a side view of another embodiment of the ELEPHEET ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a front view of the ELEPHEET of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a side view of another embodiment of the ELEPHEET ofthe present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a front view of the ELEPHEET of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a side view of another embodiment of the ELEPHEET ofthe present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a front view of the ELEPHEET of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to activate or use the walking muscles of the arms, it isnecessary to inactivate the climbing muscles of the arms which should beinactivated by preventing the wrist and lower arm from moving whilewalking on all fours. Furthermore, it is advantageous to extend thereach of the arms with the ELEPHEET so that the length of the arms inconjunction with the ELEPHEET is approximately the same length as thelegs of the user. This results in the back of the user beingapproximately parallel with the horizontal plane. FIG. 1 illustratesthis aspect of the present invention and shows the user 110 walking onall four arms and legs with the arms being extended with the ELEPHEET100 of the present invention.

The ELEPHEET includes an elephoot for each hand, right and left.Normally when one discusses an article to cover a wearer's hand, thearticle is a glove. In the case of the ELEPHEET, the article should beregarded as a groove, instead. The reason is significant. In the case ofthe glove, the wearer's hand is inserted into the open end of the glovein order to place the glove on the hand and arm of the wearer. This isnot true in the case of the ELEPHEET; the wearer's hand and arm areinserted in a sideways manner with the hand encased in a groovesimultaneously with the upper arm.

Beginning at the area adjacent to the elbow, the groove, which is madeof a double layer of material of which volleyballs are made, has a slit,vertically, across the end of the groove. The slit is continued down thelength of the groove ending at the opposite corner, diagonally, fromwhere the slit began. The purpose of the double layer of volleyballmaterial is to enable a column of air to be formed under pressure forthe length of the groove. This gives the cuff of the groove body andstability. It also shunts the pressure, that would be placed on thewrist joint by the increased reach of the arm length (the length thatthe ELEPHEET adds to the reach of the wearer's arms in order for thelength of a wearer's arm to match the length of the wearer's legs) pastthe wrist and to the elbow. If the hand and arm were inserted at theopen end of the glove, this protective shunt for the wrist would not bepossible. Since the hand and arm are inserted sideways, the shuntprotection for the wrist can be near perfectly tailored and maintained.It's protective area is not rendered useless by a hand passing throughthe area as would be the case of a glove.

The body of the groove is also made of double layers of volleyballmaterial and forms the wearer's hand into a protected fist so that thewearer's knuckles can be walked upon. At the point where the grooveforms the wearer's fists, the groove is permanently attached to anair-inflated, pedestal or elevator type sole of volleyball material thatstrikes the ground as the wearer walks. This elevator type sole orpedestal makes walking on all four limbs and especially pleasant form of‘elephant walk’ locomotion for preschoolers.

Let us describe ELEPHEET from the ground up.

Think of the elephoot as if it were a very, very, thick-soled boot, buta boot to be worn on the hand; the elephoot for the left hand and aelephoot for the right hand. This sole of each elephoot will be made ofthe same material of which volleyballs are made. It will be inflatableby hand pump and needle. When fully inflated, it will be approximately12 inches in diameter, and 8 inches high and will have the shapeproximally of a can in which Danish cookies are sold. This sole or footof the elephoot is the part that will strike the ground as the wearerwalks. The bottom of this elevator type sole will be spread with acoating of material that will prevent skidding of the soles on hardwoodas well as tile floors.

Moving upward, the part just above the sole is the body of the groove.The body of the groove is the area of the groove in which the hand of awearer of the elephoot will be formed into a fist that will furnish theconditions for the wearer to walk on protected knuckles. The area wherethe knuckles of the wearer come in contact with the top of the sole iswhere the sole and the body of the groove will be permanently bonded.Since all of the walls are made of volleyball material, given body andsturdiness by the compressed air, protection for their wearer's knucklesare to some extent provided. However, additional protection will beprovided by very soft material that will line the inside of the body ofthe groove.

Walking on the knuckles of the front paws is the natural means oflocomotion of the great apes, such as the gorilla, and when theirknuckles strike the ground, and their wrist joint is just above theground. When the knuckles of the wearer of the elephoot, press againstthe top of the sole or the foot of the elephoot, the knuckles of thewearer of the elephoot are eight or so inches above the ground. Thisadded distance between the ground and the elephoot wear's wrist places agreat pressure to flex upon the wrist. A woman senses the same sort ofpressure upon the instep of her foot when she first begins walking onhigh heels.

The points that allow the ELEPHEET to allow the wearer to walk withalacrity on four limbs are 1) they lengthen the reach of the arms sothat they match the length of the legs, 2) cushion the impact on theknuckles and 3) shunt the pressure (caused by lengthening the reach ofthe arms) past the wrist and to the elbow where it can be controlled.

Let us now take this shunt of pressure past the wrist into account as wecontinue our description and evaluation of the elephoot from the groundup. As was stated above, the next part of the elephoot is named thegroove because the hand and arm are loaded into their proper place bybeing swung sideways and simultaneously into the groove instead of beingshoved into position down the glove from its open end. This allows theair pillows that will maintain the integrity of the protective shunt ofthe wrist to exist unmolested by the loading and unloading of the hand,wrist and arm. The groove is the next part of the elephoot, and theposition of the hand, wrist and arm within its confines and maintainedby columns of air within a double layer of volleyball material. Theparts of the arm are retained in their position by the pressure of theair-pressure-filled ridges.

FIG. 2 illustrates the ELEPHEET 100 which includes a pedestal 204 and abody 206 having a groove 207. The pedestal 204 as illustrated in FIG. 2includes spheres 202 which are connected together and sufficientlyflexible to absorb the impact of walking from affecting the hand and armof the user.

FIG. 2 illustrates the spheres 202 positioned in a pyramid shape and maybe formed as volleyball or basketball. The body 206 is a hollow deviceto accept the hand and the wrist in the groove 207 and in someembodiments a portion of the arm below the elbow. The body 206 includesan open end to accept the hand and the wrist of the user into the groove207. The body 206 is positioned and connected at the upper end of thepedestal 204 and may be constructed from either rigid or flexiblematerial. In one embodiment, the body 206 and the groove 207 may besimilar to a boxer's glove having a strap across the wrist of the userto hold the wrist in place. FIG. 3 illustrates the pedestal 304, body306 and a groove 307 with a support shaft 308 terminating in a pair ofarms 310 which are in spaced relationship, substantially parallel, toaccommodate the arm of the user so that the body 306 and the groove 307are supported to achieve exercising the walking muscles of the arm. Inthis embodiment, the pedestal 304 could be formed from a relativelylarge hollow pipe while the support shaft 308 and the arms 310 could beformed from relatively small hollow pipe. FIG. 4 illustrates a frontview of the ELEPHEET shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 illustrates a side view of another embodiment of the presentinvention. In this embodiment, the pedestal 504 is formed as a hollowsphere which may be constructed from flexible material such as thematerial used in a volleyball or other suitable material. A body 506 andgroove 507 are formed as an hollow rectangular housing from a rigidmaterial such as wood or steel or other suitable materials. The body 506includes a wrist stabilizer 512 positioned on an internal side of thegroove 507 and a handle 514 for the user to grasp. The wrist stabilizer512 is positioned in a relationship with the handle 514 so that thewrist of the user is positioned opposite to the wrist stabilizer 512.The wrist stabilizer 512 prevents the wrist from moving, for exampletwisting, allowing the walking muscles of the users arm to be used toprovide the muscles for the walking. FIG. 6 illustrates a front view ofthe embodiment shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment ofthe ELEPHEET of the present invention. The ELEPHEET shown in FIG. 7includes a wrist stabilizer 712 which is inflatable to provide for amore secure stabilization of the wrist of the user and to allow fordifferent sized arms of different sized users. The wrist stabilizer 712includes a valve 718 to inflate or deflate the wrist stabilizer 712.FIG. 8 illustrates a front view of the ELEPHEET shown in FIG. 7.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by wayof example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It shouldbe understood, however, that the description herein of specificembodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particularforms disclosed.

1) A device for attaching to arms of a user, comprising: a pedestal forextending the length of said device so that said user can walk on saidarms by keeping a back of said user substantially parallel to ahorizontal plane; a wrist stabilizer to stabilize a wrist of said user;a body attached to said pedestal including a groove adjacent to saidwrist stabilizer to allow a hand of said user to pass by said wriststabilizer. 2) A device for attaching to arms of a user as in claim 1,wherein said wrist stabilizer is inflatable. 3) A device for attachingto arms of a user as in claim 1, wherein said pedestal is inflatable. 4)A device for attaching to arms of a user as in claim 1, wherein saidpedestal is flexible. 5) A device for attaching to arms of a user as inclaim 1, wherein said pedestal is rigid. 6) A device for attaching toarms of a user as in claim 1, wherein said body is flexible. 7) A devicefor attaching to arms of a user as in claim 1, wherein said body isrigid.